Aging is an extraordinary process where you become the person you should have always been. — David Bowie
First… a little music for this post because yes, today is my birthday…
And while this song is a great pick-me-up I must confess that I have been struggling greatly with the idea of this birthday… and this is quite the confession from a person who never cared one iota about how old I was. 30 was not hard and 40 even less so. And I don’t even remember the big 5-0 so how come 59 is giving me fits? Good thing I have an entire year to get comfortable with the idea – that and those words of wisdom from David Bowie which I am counting on to guide me in the process!
59 year-old me… yes, wrapped in my Regan
However, birthdays be damned! It’s the Season of Selfish Knitting and of course I have some ideas with which to tempt you!!
Today, you get an update on some top-secret Christmas knitting and my Year in Knitting review!
First up, I knit Steve a pair of Simply Skyp Socks. The yarn I used was a bit heavier than sport weight, but I love how they turned out!
I also made Steve a pair of those Woodland Loafer’s slippers – even with figuring out gauge to knit a men’s size 14 slipper, they went much quicker than that first pair did! If you are interested in the gauge for a much bigger slipper, you can read my notes here.
2019 was a very productive year for knitting! I set a goal to make 18 projects on Ravelry this year, and I blew past that goal with 27 28 completed projects! (somehow one pair of socks for Steve never got entered!)
Deschain
Early Bloomer
One Color Marsa Alam
Tegna
Lovely Regan
Morinne Short and Sweet
ADVENTurer
Rachel's Birthday Mini Maximization
Coast Screen Door
Silk Screen Door
Golden Chardonnay
Half Every which way cowl
Rachel's Velvet-y cowl
Heidi's Velvet-y cowl
Vivi's Velvet-y Cowl
Beneath the Rocks Headbands
Frida headband and matching mittens
Steve's sock head slouch hat
Socks for Steve
Trap a Zoid socks
Montadale hand spun plain vanilla socks
Slippers for Sam
Gnome...thank you!
Brother and Sister Bunny
It was a year for “repeat knitting” though! You know I made 2 pairs of those Woodland Loafers but there were many more multiples of things made! There were two Beneath the Rocks Headbands, two Velvet-y Cowls (and one mini Velvet-y Cowl so Vivi can match her momma!) There were two Screen Doors as well! And there was a pair of Bunnies for Genevieve!
A good pattern is one that you want to knit over and over and over again!
There were six sweaters knit in 2019 – a number I am most happy with! I have some plans for at least one sweater repeat in 2020 – I absolutely love my Regan Sweater and I wear it almost every day! I think a second one would be perfect (especially this mod!) and I have some yarn that I think might work for it. I have not swatched yet – but I will be as soon as I have finished my Evening Dew Cardigan which I think this can be finished easily in January and that leaves lots of winter left to knit another sweater! As you can see, I have roughly 2 inches of the body knit – just 12-ish more inches to go!
No book updates this week – next week I will share my Year of Reading!
If you wrote a post to share, please leave your link below!
I am so thankful for all your participation over the year and I hope that your day is full of the joy of Christmas, the love of friends and family, and LOTS of knitting time! XO
What you stay focused on will grow. — Roy T. Bennett
December is drawing to a close and so is my word for 2019 and I confess, I am sad to see it end! I started with an idea of how focus would change me and over the year my word took me on a much better journey than I ever imagined!
Your life is controlled by what you focus on. — Tony Robbins
At times during the year, I lost my focus but I learned how to refocus and how to improve my focus. I learned what was important to focus on. And, more importantly – what was not important to focus on.
Always remember, your focus determines your reality. — George Lucas
But even as I join with Juliann to put my word away for 2019 and make space for a new word, focus has become a permanent part of me! A part that will continue to adjust my days – and it will influence the New Year and my new word!
I saw this poem on Saturday and have been pondering Wendell Berry’s words ever since:
To Know the Dark
To go in the dark with a light is to know the light.
To know the dark, go dark. Go without sight,
and find that the dark, too, blooms and sings,
and is traveled by dark feet and dark wings.
This winter season may you find that the dark blooms and sings for you as well!
Christmas is a season not only of rejoicing but of reflection. — Winston Churchill
As I write this post, I am watching the gentle fall of snowflakes out my “office” window. Occasionally, the wind swirls them as if my neighborhood is a huge snow globe and as the wind subsides, the flakes swirl lazily until they return to gently float from the grey sky. I am wearing a warm, woolly sweater and I have hand knit socks on my feet while I sip a steaming hot cup of coffee. Life is indeed so very good – I have way more than I need. We do not have money struggles and our big debate is how we should “cut the cable cord” next year – we are fortunate beyond belief.
I have my Christmas gifts wrapped and under the tree. I have done all the baking I intend on doing this year. And, I am really looking forward to Steve being home a couple of extra days for the next two weeks – thanks to the holidays!
AND!! I have selected my word for next year – or rather, I think it selected me!
I am fortunate to return to my “regular knitting because I finished my holiday making with time to spare! Yes, I have settled back into my Evening Dew Cardigan! Each row brings me closer to needing my second ball of mohair silk, which I carefully wound yesterday. There is something quite reflective about hand winding a skein of yarn – you can’t rush it, there is no pause to go do something else – it requires your presence as you wind the yarn into a ball.
Perhaps one of these patterns will inspire you to to wind up some yarn and do some “selfish” knitting for yourself over the coming days! Added bonus, these things are **free** – at least for the next few days!
Isabell Kraemer’s Leni dropped this week and it is a gift from her to us through December 31! From Isabell: “Let me shout out a big THANK YOU for your love, your ongoing support, your trust, your understanding, your patience…for being by my side on this journey…hope you enjoy this little hat pattern!”
Kelbourne Woolens December Hat – a free pattern knit up with their Germantown yarn which includes some intricate cabling!
That is all I have for this week – I hope that your weekend is full of wonderful reflection! Happy Hanukkah to my friends who will begin celebrating on Sunday!
Perhaps a little Christmas music to get things rolling?
Because Christmas insanity continues around these parts. I did manage to get mittens finished, and they will be on their way to Michigan later today! And today my making will all be about baking! Bring on the cookies! I have all the ingredients to make some dark chocolate ginger cookies (similar to these that Kym posted last week!)
Nothing beats the smell of baking cookies and it is the perfect reward for finishing those mittens!
Once More We Saw Stars – this was a hard book to listen to, but I think it might have been harder to read. Can sharing a tragedy help with grief? I don’t know but I hope it did for these parents. 3-stars.
Nine Elms – this is Robert Bryndza’s latest book and the first in the Kate Marshall series. It did not disappoint – and although you know ‘who did it’ it does not detract from the story. It is a page turner and I recommend. 4-stars.
Blowout: Corrupted Democracy, Rogue State Russia, and the Richest, Most Destructive Industry on Earth by Rachel Maddow. This was a deep, heavy listen – although it was read by the author and that made it seem a bit like an extremely extensive open to her show. There is so much to think about in this book, and as you can image – none of it is good. I think it was a bit too long – it could have been edited a bit more, imo. 3-stars.
I also listened to The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe! Which I loved as much as I did when I read it ages ago with my kids. 4-stars for this perfect pre-Christmas read!
Finally, John Boyne shared this stack of books by Irish authors! I have read a good number of the books in this stack and I have added those I have not to my list to read!
You might be tired of end-of-decade lists, but if you’re buying books for Christmas, here’s my favourite Irish books of the last decade and I whole-heartedly recommend them all! pic.twitter.com/Am70T4Sdhj
That is all I have for today, if you wrote a post to share please leave your link below and thank you!
*** A quick bit of housekeeping for the next two Wednesday’s. I will post as usual on Christmas Day (although it might be later in the day and might include some holiday gift knitting updates) and on New Year’s Day – New Year’s Day will include my 2019 reading update! However, do not feel pressure to join in!
